EITC/X — The European IT Certification External Programme
The European IT Certification External Programme (EITC/X) is a standardised framework introduced by the European IT Certification Institute (EITCI Institute ASBL) in Brussels, Belgium, to support widely accessible and internationally verifiable IT competence attestment. EITC/X was designed in response to challenges identified by the European Commission related to the digital skills gap in the EU and broader barriers to Digital Society formation, and it is aligned with the objectives of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.
EITC/X enables high-quality external IT learning programmes—delivered online or offline, in any language—to be accredited under the European IT Certification framework, so that participants can earn a European IT Certification framework's EITC/X certificate in English, following an external EITCI accreditted course, providing an internationally recognisable certification beyond proprietary course completion confirmations and credentials.
At a glance
- EU-based certification under the European IT Certification framework (EITC), issued by EITCI Institute in a certification-procedure following assessment of completing external EITCI accreditted course or programme.
- Course-provider independent: the accredited course may be delivered in any country, format (online/offline), and language.
- Internationally verifiable: certificates can be validated online via multiple methods (see below).
- Career-ready presentation: compatible with professional CV/portfolio practices and professional networks (e.g., LinkedIn).
- Scalable accreditation: suitable for individual learners, education providers, and enterprise workforce programmes.
What does the “X” mean?
The “X” in EITC/X stands for external and indicates that you can earn a standardised European IT Certificate by completing a relevant EITC/X-accredited external IT course, implemented by an external EITCI-accredited provider, delivered online or offline, in whatever language it is offered in. The curriculum of the EITC/X certified course is not directly developed by EITCI, but it is audited and accreditted by EITCI to meet it's certification requirements.
Is EITC/X part of the European IT Certification framework?
The EITC/X is an integral part of the European IT Certification framework established in 2008. EITC/X certifies external IT course, but does so under European IT Certification standard requirements with assessment provided either by EITCI-accredited provider or directly by EITCI, delivered online or offline, in whatever language it is offered in. As per the EITC/X certificate it is a fully validable EITCI issued individual digital certificate under the European IT Certification framework, implemented in a validable digital form along with digital badges, compatible with professional platforms, such as e.g. LinkedIn with automated credential adding to profiles and validation, along with digital badges management platforms and corresponding open badges standards.
The EITC/X certificates, simlarly as standard EITC certificates, contain the scope of the corresponding programme curriculum along with the examination results (in percentage) and have no recertification requirements, remaining valid without time limits. Recertification (issuance of new certificates to certification holders) is optionally possible, so that the certified AI competences reflect technology evolution.
The EITC/X External certification framework is part of the European IT Certification (EITC) and it would be reflected on the issued certificates. Visually EITC/X certificates correspond to EITC certificates. EITC/X certificates, in contrast to standard EITC/EITCA certificates, may additionally carry a logo of EITCI accreditted provider of the external certification course.
Summary of the EITC/X Certification Programme
- EITC/X is an internationally acknowledged EU formal IT Certification standard defined under the framework of the European IT Certification (EITC), within the initiative of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition (DSJC) initiated by the European Commission in October 2014 (cf. more details).
- The “X” in the EITC/X Programme name reflects that you can earn your standardised EITC/X Certificate by completing a relevant EITC/X-accredited external IT course implemented by an EITCI-accredited provider, online or offline, in whatever language it is offered in.
- It does not matter in which country and language you take your relevant IT course and training. If it is accredited within EITC/X, you can earn your European IT Certification framework's EITC/X Certificate, attesting in English completion of the relevant course you finished.
- This attestation raises your formal acknowledgement of IT competencies in comparison to only a provider-issued proprietary confirmation, due to leveraging the international recognition of the European IT Certification (EITC) standard implemented by EITCI Institute.
- You can validate your EITC/X Certificate online by: (i) fully automated QR Code scan, (ii) entering your Certificate ID and last name in the web form validation (on https://eitci.org/validate), or (iii) using your secure Certificate URL validation token.
- You can use online integrated validation to effectively present your EITC/X Certificate—for example in the integrated IT ID e‑CV standard, within the LinkedIn global professional social network (where EITC/X Certificates are officially recognised), or during recruitment and professional appraisal processes.
- You can obtain your EITC/X Certificate from the accredited IT course provider or directly from EITCI Institute within EITCA Academy (in the latter case you will be required to submit completion data of the corresponding IT course for the IT course vendor verification).
- Holding an EITC/X Certificate provides you with an online European IT Certification profile on the EITCI Institute pages. This profile can be referenced on social networks, within your CV, or during job interviews, and it is integrated with the IT ID e‑CV standard for streamlined multimedia presentation of competencies and portfolio.
- With an EITC/X Certificate you also receive Certified Member access to the EITCI Cloud platform of the European IT Professionals community, connecting you with other experts and certification holders, as well as hiring companies, recruiters, managers, CEOs, investors, etc., for career development and focused professional networking.
- EITC/X Certificate holders are also admitted to an optional EITCI institutional membership with a lowered annual fee, for those who wish to complement professional development with formal membership in the European IT association dedicated to Digital Society.
- All issued EITC/X Certifications are digitally integrated with the EITCI Blockchain Certification Architecture, so holders can rest assured their Certifications will never be lost and will remain integrated within a recursively defined and distributed blockchain architecture for preservation and sustained security.
Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition (DSJC)
More details on the DSJC initiative that EITCI Institute is a member of, as well as details regarding EITCI Institute's activities within the DSJC initiative (including the pledge to certify at least 1 million EU citizens before the end of 2020), as part of implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy of the European Commission, can be found here:
EITC/X Certification Programme — from the IT course vendor perspective
The EITC/X certification framework is based on accrediting external high-quality IT courses implemented either online or offline and developed by educational providers not affiliated with EITCI Institute and not licensing EITC/EITCA Certifications. The IT courses qualifying for EITC/X accreditation meet defined quality criteria and are generally acknowledged in the market.
The evaluation of eligibility is performed by the Certification Committee of the EITCI Institute either on request of an IT course provider or by selection of a relevant course by EITCI Institute. Courses eligible for EITC/X accreditation must be offered on the EU market in any of the EU official languages.
The EITC/X framework is elastic with respect to programme coverage: the certification scope and curriculum are defined in alignment with the course didactic contents. If the contents of a course qualify and the course undergoes successful accreditation, any individual who completes the accredited IT course is entitled to earn the relevant EITC/X certification.
EITC/X therefore serves as a certification of accredited course completion and not an additional objective verification of attained knowledge (the EITC/X certification does not involve examination or any other form of attained knowledge verification). It is a certification of relevant IT course completion that can be further extended to EITC or EITCA knowledge‑verifying, examination‑based certifications.
EITC/X constitutes an internationally recognised attestation of lifelong learning in IT, mostly oriented at vocational training. EITC/X certificates can be obtained separately or in series if relevant training programmes are sufficiently advanced and comprehensive. The standard is targeted at all individuals, either delegated or self‑interested in completion of IT courses by quality IT education and training providers.
EITC/X enterprise programme accreditation (internal corporate training)
In addition to standard course-provider accreditation, EITC/X can also be applied to large-scale enterprise learning programmes (e.g., internal AI or digital literacy programmes) where an organisation seeks formal external accreditation and verifiable credential issuance for its workforce.
In such cases, accreditation typically follows two major phases:
- Accreditation audit and scope definition — a detailed review of the organisation’s internal programme to determine the certification scope and the corresponding requirements. Where relevant, knowledge/skills assessment requirements may be defined (and, if appropriate, structured as a single comprehensive examination or divided into smaller module-aligned partial exams).
- Accreditation license for certificate issuance — a license enabling issuance of corresponding EITC/X certificates to each participant who fulfils the certification requirements. Certificates are issued as individually verifiable digital credentials and may be complemented with digital badges compatible with professional platforms (e.g., LinkedIn) and badge management ecosystems (including Open Badges-aligned practices where applicable).
As part of the audit, recommendations may be formulated regarding content inclusions, corrections, or assessment improvements. Examination procedures (where used) may be implemented by the license holder (organisation or its training providers) subject to defined technical and security requirements, or implemented directly by EITCI on its certification platforms. Where an accredited programme includes examinations, EITCI may maintain independent exam procedures corresponding to the accredited curriculum scope and the agreed delivery model, and participants may be offered the option to complete the certification examination via EITCI platforms.
EITC/X certificates can include the scope of the corresponding programme curriculum and—where applicable—the recorded assessment results (e.g., percentage score). Certificates are issued without mandatory recertification requirements and may remain valid without time limits. Where a programme is materially revised over time, re-accreditation can be used to ensure the certified competences reflect technology evolution and updated requirements.
The auditing and accreditation criteria can be aligned to the ISO/IEC 17024 standard for personnel certification governance. Visually, EITC/X certificates correspond to European IT Certification (EITC) certificates, while EITC/X may additionally carry the logo of the accredited programme owner (e.g., an enterprise) and, where relevant, internal training providers.
EITC/X accreditation — governance and issuing body
The accrediting body for the European IT Certification External Programme is the European IT Certification Institute. For any additional details and inquiries please contact us.
EITC/X IT course provider registration
If you represent an IT course provider (i.e., an education‑oriented organisation providing vocational or general IT-related training) and would like to apply for EITC/X accreditation for courses in your offering, please submit the EITC/X accreditation registration form.
